I couldn't find the thread but I recall awhile back a discussion about the fall of commercial aviation. If I remember correctly, the argument was that we would run out of fuel for airplanes, commercial airlines would go out of business because batteries are expensive, and we would be flying around in zeppelins again. At least lets pretend that's how it went until redball or someone who doesn't suck with the interwebs (like me) bothers to look it up to call me out. I digress, here's an article from NASA on future commercial flight designs and goals.

Here's an excerpt or 2:

Quote: NASA's goals for a 2030-era aircraft, compared with an aircraft entering service today, are:

* A 71-decibel reduction below current Federal Aviation Administration noise standards, which aim to contain objectionable noise within airport boundaries.
* A greater than 75 percent reduction on the International Civil Aviation Organization's Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection Sixth Meeting, or CAEP/6, standard for nitrogen oxide emissions, which aims to improve air quality around airports.
* A greater than 70 percent reduction in fuel burn performance, which could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of air travel.
* The ability to exploit metroplex concepts that enable optimal use of runways at multiple airports within metropolitan areas, as a means of reducing air traffic congestion and delays...

...These are some of the common themes from the four reports:

* Slower cruising -- at about Mach 0.7, or seven-tenths the speed of sound, which is 5 percent to 10 percent slower than today's aircraft -- and at higher altitudes, to save fuel.
* Engines that require less power on takeoff, for quieter flight.
* Shorter runways -- about 5,000 feet long, on average -- to increase operating capacity and efficiency.
* Smaller aircraft – in the medium-size class of a Boeing 737, with cabin accommodations for no more than 180 passengers – flying shorter and more direct routes, for cost-efficiency.
* Reliance on promised advancements in air traffic management such as the use of automated decision-making tools for merging and spacing enroute and during departure climbs and arrival descents.

Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:09 am

C.R.A.Z.Y

Joined: 18 Feb 2008
Posts: 2762
Location: " Bought a house next to Prince, now I can kick it "

i like watching those videos on you tube of people with wings on their arms flying off of stuff. if i dont have the courage to fly on my own i have no business on airplanes.

))((((((((((((....................................>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sat Jan 15, 2011 2:30 am

Jesse Custer

Joined: 01 Dec 2006
Posts: 1258
Location: London

You can be guaranteed that any of these cost savings will not be passed on to the customers..

Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:27 am

jakethesnakeguy who cried about wrestling being real

Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Posts: 6311
Location: airstrip one

Jesse Custer wrote: You can be guaranteed that any of these cost savings will not be passed on to the customers..

You can't really change the laws of supply and demand. If there is a high demand for reasonable prices, and someone can supply that, they will take the market share by providing it. Other airlines will have to follow suit or become specialized or flounder.

Quote: NASA has taken the wraps off three concept designs for quiet, energy efficient aircraft that could potentially be ready to fly as soon as 2025. The designs come from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and The Boeing Company. In the final months of 2010, each of these companies won a contract from NASA to research and test their concepts during 2011.

Apparently, NASA is aiming to develop a line of super-planes that larger, faster, quieter, and that burn fuel slower and cleaner than their present counterparts.